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Today Apple announced iOS 5.1 along with 'The new iPad', which means we need a new development tool with features for developing in iOS 5.1 and for the new hardware. Downloadable right now for free from the Mac App Store is the latest version of Xcode – version 4.3.1. The pervious version was Xcode 4.3. You can follow this link to download the latest Xcode or you can launch the Mac App Store yourself by navigating to '>App Store' from the Menu Bar and taking a look at the Updates tab from the Mac App Store application.

The update is around 900MB and will take some time to download depending on your Internet connection speeds. Right now, Apple’s servers are being pounded with download traffic and download speeds could be slower now then they will be in a few days. Expect a couple of hours for download time.

I've asked a couple of developers what they think about the new features to help in considering the long download:

Anthony: Could you tell me a little bit about what you think is good or bad about this update and its features?

John Heaton: "It’s kind of annoying that you have to install command line tools now separately by going into Xcode preferences."

Itay Brenner: "Many developers have not enrolled in the iOS Developer Program, so for them it is a good update for preparing tweaks and apps for 5.1 (when there is a jailbreak). Hopefully the bug fixes they added fix most of the application crashes while programming"

Dustin Howett: "There was nothing of note to iOS developers added between 4.3 and 4.3.1 except iOS 5.1 support. It amounts to, 'We've added a button to make it easier to download one thing; now you can codesign your Mac apps harder than before.'"

Xcode still requires a Mac to install. If you don't plan to be making anything for iOS 5.1, most developers will agree that it will be a waste of your time to download this update.